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Original material is licensed under a Creative Commons License permitting non-commercial sharing with attribution.
10/16/09
10/16/09
10/16/09
10/16/09
10/16/09
"What operates in 44 countries, has 2,276 stores outside of the U.S., has more than 100,000 associates (their term for worker) in Mexico alone and does $56.3 billion in sales overseas?"
[www.msnbc.msn.com]
Wal-Mart around the world:
Country Stores
Mexico 744
Puerto Rico 54
Canada 263
Argentina 11
Brazil 295
China 56
Germany 88
United Kingdom 315
South Korea 16
Costa Rica 10
El Salvador 57
Guatemala 120
Honduras 32
Nicaragua 30
Japan 15
10/16/09
10/16/09
From the WSJ article:
"Retailers traditionally pay half the list price for a hardcover book. Assuming that's the case with Wal-Mart, its $10 sale price on "Under the Dome" represents a 71% discount of the $35 cover price, which suggests the discounter will lose $7 to $7.50 on every copy it sells.
10/16/09
10/16/09
10/16/09
10/16/09
What Walmart/Amazon are currently doing is not so much stealing money from the publishing industry (they have to pay a certain amount per book, which was already decided by the publishers), but setting a standard for low book prices which will hurt them later on. The publishers will make just as much money from the Sarah Palin book sales as they would have if Walmart sold the books for $30.
The people who will be hurt right now is the independent booksellers, and smaller book chains. #amazon
10/16/09
If they sell 60% of a publishers total sales they have the power to tell them exactly what they will pay for the books. Wal Mart wants precise costs from its suppliers so that they can put them on razor sharp margins and if they don't agree they cut them off and literally RUIN them overnight. #amazon
10/16/09
10/16/09
10/16/09
Maybe it's different in the states, but here in Canada, Walmart does not have a very large book section (I think... it's been a while since I've been to one), and could not greatly affect the book industry one way or the other. #amazon
10/16/09
10/16/09
Amazon is fighting back. They just discounted all of their howling wolf shirts. #amazon
10/16/09
10/02/09
10/02/09
Oh, I see, you're only concerned with cheerleading for the iTunes and Amazon monopolies. Way to stick up for the consumer, there, guys.
10/02/09
10/02/09
Umm, do these guys have a clue what Hulu really is? A.) it's not (yet) a place where you buy or manage anything , and 2.) It does nooooot stream to "any" device. Heck, that's one of Hulu's biggest flaws *cough, Boxee, cough* But yeah, other than not being like Hulu at all, good luck with that.
Also, side note: it's good to know we're still treating Apple Tablet rumors as canon. *mumble* piece of crap device isn't even out yet, it's already one of the "Big Two" ereaders. *mumble grumble*
10/02/09
10/02/09
10/02/09
I'm confused. Isn't this the definition of a paid subscription website? Wtf?
07/11/09
07/11/09
Wait, whut?
07/11/09
07/11/09
07/11/09
07/12/09
07/12/09
The book is both pure information and platform, or medium, all in one. Your analogy - the guitar - is not. It is a pure platform, and you bring your own memorized content to it. The iPod is platform which needs content. The Kindle is platform which needs purchased content. The book is platform which comes with it's own, inseparable, pre-owned content. It's immutable, re-useable, there's no license required, it's portable, etc...
It's basically perfect right now
07/11/09
07/11/09
Independent publishing will always be regarded as stupid and childish precisely because it removes all those layers and filters between the original product and the great stuff you read. Those filters that establish a baseline of talent in the writer, with editors who help cajole the story along.
When you go to press books, you're maybe looking into some murky water to find a diamond. With independent publishing, you're sifting through a pile of the worst, most wretched human waste to find that occasional diamond. Now which would YOU rather do?
The proof is in the product. Literally. It may be nice to say that big name publishers deaden the art, but that's probably because they just reject your cyborg-dragon galactic conquest trilogy with the words "we've seen this too much". Most independently published books are derivative, and silly. Most press books, while maybe not always being magnificent, are at least at a certain level of skill and refinement.
07/11/09
The new commenting system deleted my whole response. But basically, no one was saying that indie publishers don't have to sift though a lot of shit...My point was that a better variety of product can make it to the market though this new channel. A LOT of indie MUSIC is good, while most of it is shit, plenty of good stuff gets popular because people personally support artists. I think digital distribution gives writers this same freedom, which was difficult to break into before the internet and e readers/books.